The invention most closely corresponds with USPTO Class 399, wherein the invention provides for machine control and document handling via electrophotography and software for control thereof.
In its simplest form, the invention comprises a paper medium upon which a User may place instructions relating to a set of scanned items, or “scan job”. An example may be a User simply hand writing “fax to Bob” on the paper medium and placing it as the lead page to the items to be scanned. The inventive method, having the capability to recognize the characters “fax to Bob”, then processes the scan as per the instructions on the document routing form. A second example is a document routing form on which is encoded complete data instructions wherein a User does not have to intervene. Another example may be comprised of a routing form with coded data that includes direction to the inventive software to obtain information from a secondary source, such as a User's electronic archive, in order to process the scan job. Currently, there exists no identifiable process for utilizing a paper intermediary which essentially “instructs” a scanner and its appropriate software on what actions to take in regard to a scan job. The invention relates primarily to an environment or configuration comprising a user's computer with a scanner attached thereto.
The scanning process as it exists prior to the invention requires a user to place items to be scanned in or upon a scanner, make some choice as to the character of the scan, i.e. press a button on the physical scanner or give commands in a software program which was previously installed on a user's computer. Typically such software was bundled with the scanner when purchased. The scan job is then processed optically and results in either a printed or electronic form, such as a simple copy of the document scanned. The invention herein provides for a paper medium which will instruct the scanner how to process the scan job, and offers routing form options which range from requiring no User intervention (a novice computer user) to enabling a more advanced User to insert additional instruction data. The printed paper medium contains coded data instructions specifying the nature and outcome of the scan job to the scanner. The best example being termed a “document routing form”.
The document routing form allows a user to quickly and efficiently perform a scan job without having to configure the scanner either manually or via software. The document routing form may contain all required data to instruct the scanner as to how to process the scan job without other computative intervention, or the form may contain data instructions to cause the inventive software to seek data from a secondary location to complete the scan job. An example of a secondary program being a User's electronic archive containing data such as an email address, or fax number. Accordingly, the invention provides a significant benefit to the market in terms of providing an efficient, user friendly method to route scanned documents to an ultimate source. A further benefit of the invention results in the option of use of a single scanner by multiple Users thereby obtaining the maximum benefit from a single scanner purchase. The inventive software allows a User to create and a print a document routing form. Once printed, the User takes the form and processes his scan job utilizing a scanner connected to a computer at a location other than his workstation or office. The inventive software provides for program code which then electronically returns the scanned documents as a file to the User's computer. Once the User returns to his desk, the scanned documents are existent on his computer in electronic format.